Non Highlighter Ink For Highlighting And Marking Notes / Journals ?

[Mech-for-i]

Yes I know there are highlighter ink around but I seldom found them actually doing fine , the colours is too light and the neon overtone can be hurting , and most of all they generally only work well on whitener enhanced white paper ( aka copier paper ) and not many of the cream / light grey paper .. so what's your take for a non highlighter ink ( aka just normal colour ink ) for marking on notes and journals ; recently I've been using J.Herbin Corail Des Tropiques on my EDC journal and my desk note pad . it come out great on both light grey, cream and white paper without that Neon overtone and still Highlights ... I am talking about notes . marking, etc not drawing the ink over other text ; just like to know others picks

 

FYI my normal text I use generally dark hue , Green and Brown usually but sometime others too

[hinky]

I've only ever used non-highlighter inks as my highlighters. The ones I've tried are J. Herbin Bouton D'Or and Bouquet D'Antan. They both seem to work well on cream paper. I've also used J. Herbin Vert Reseda as a fine liner and it seems to also do well on cream paper (you could probably use it as a highlighter when watered down).

 

The trouble with using FP ink as highlighters is that it tends to smear the writing beneath it. Maybe diluting any normal ink may work (and add glycerine/photo flo to restore lubrication), but I'm not sure if adding water will have adverse effects on the writing to be highlighted. Maybe you can experiment with inks you already have.

 

Hope that helps!

[silverlifter]

Robert Oster Fire Engine Red in an <F> nib. I highlight by underlining and writing marginalia.

[Noihvo]

 

[A Smug Dill]

Something along the lines of Diamine Marine and Rohrer & Klingner Smaragdgrün do just fine, since I'd almost never write a paragraph of "normal text" on a page with such colours.

[PaganArcher]

I use Noodler's Habanero personally. I often write large sections in red but orange is a color I rarely use, much less in that particular shade. I have a few highlighter inks from Noodler's and Pelikan that I use in brush pens for highlighting work orders.

[senzen]

I use Edelstein Mandarin, Iroshizuku Fuyu Gaki and Chiku Rin, J Herbin Orange Indien, Diamine Poppy Red and Jacques Herbin Ambre de Baltique for that purpose; a light blue would also work, like Kon Peki in an EF or dry pen and Ama Iro.

[mannschott]

Ive used J Herbin Vert Olive and Noodlers Apache Sunset for highlighting and liked them. Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Red or the similarly toned but wetter flowing Noodlers Dragons Napalm also worked well, though theyre not my favorite color.

[Runnin_Ute]

I have used Noodler's Apache Sunset a ml ong others. Usually on preprinted text.

[Erik Dalton]

Rather than highlight I’ve always preferred to underline with Orange ink in a fine/Xfine pen. Just a preference, it seems easier on my eyes. Writing in the margins with the same pen I use to underline simplifies things as well..

Right now i’m using Iroshizuku Yu-Yake. It’s a more color saturated orange that has worked out well for me.

[Mech-for-i]

I do the same, a broad ink stroke overlay on the text just do not work for me and look garish, and hurting .. I use underline, or other marking to indicate , I am still looking for that right orange , will try what you guys suggest

[ENewton]

I've been looking for a purple ink I can use in my Prera F for underlining and margin notes in paperback books. So far Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa and Montblanc Lavender Purple have worked well for underlining, but when I write a note in the margins, they bleed through.

 

Has anyone among you found a purple that works for marginalia?

[A Smug Dill]

@ENewton There are paperbacks, and then there are paperbacks. My personal experience is that "mass-market" paperbacks, especially those published out of the US, have absolute junk for paper that I can't stand reading because of the paper colour and texture, reduced contrast with the text, and jagged outlines of the printed words on the page. If you're after a purple ink that wouldn't feather or bleed through on that kind of paper, then I'm afraid I can't help you there.

 

Not that I'd write in the margins of books anyway these days; not books that I own, and not books that I borrow. The last time I annotated a book was probably some sort of commercially published technical manual (e.g. the very large ITIL v3 books, that were nevertheless only offered in paperback in spite of the high prices) at work, and that would be printed on coated 90–100gsm paper. I doubt any purple ink would bleed through or show through those sheets; a loose equivalent would be writing on that very white and smooth coated Clairefontaine paper in the 'Age Bag' softcover notebooks. The last time I've seen a paperback/softcover fiction books printed on such ridiculously good, heavy paper was Battle Royale published (if I recall correctly) in the UK by Gollancz, back in 2007; that book was so heavy physically, it really made an impression on me metaphorically.

 

So, which sort of paperback books are you talking about (in which to make notes in the margins)?

[ENewton]

@ENewton There are paperbacks, and then there are paperbacks. My personal experience is that "mass-market" paperbacks, especially those published out of the US, have absolute junk for paper that I can't stand reading because of the paper colour and texture, reduced contrast with the text, and jagged outlines of the printed words on the page. If you're after a purple ink that wouldn't feather or bleed through on that kind of paper, then I'm afraid I can't help you there.

 

Not that I'd write in the margins of books anyway these days; not books that I own, and not books that I borrow. The last time I annotated a book was probably some sort of commercially published technical manual (e.g. the very large ITIL v3 books, that were nevertheless only offered in paperback in spite of the high prices) at work, and that would be printed on coated 90–100gsm paper. I doubt any purple ink would bleed through or show through those sheets; a loose equivalent would be writing on that very white and smooth coated Clairefontaine paper in the 'Age Bag' softcover notebooks. The last time I've seen a paperback/softcover fiction books printed on such ridiculously good, heavy paper was Battle Royale published (if I recall correctly) in the UK by Gollancz, back in 2007; that book was so heavy physically, it really made an impression on me metaphorically.

 

So, which sort of paperback books are you talking about (in which to make notes in the margins)?

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

Right now I am reading paperbacks that, I suspect, are near opposite edges of the spectrum you describe. One is a Vintage International edition of a novel by William Faulkner, which I am annotating in order to be able to find passages quickly while discussing that text with other readers. I have no need to keep that volume pristine, because if I ever wanted a clean copy, I would pick one up at my local independent bookstore; still, I don't want bleedthrough because I want to be able to read any given page easily, even if I have already marked on the reverse.

 

The other paperback that I want to annotate right now is a monograph on textiles, fashion, and dress reform, published by Routledge on thin, slick paper on which smearing might be a greater problem than bleedthrough. Again, it would be helpful to annotate the text, this time not only to facilitate finding passages to cite in correspondence with others, but also to make it easier to flip back and forth among remembered passages as I read. In this case, the volume is attractive enough--in addition to being somewhat costly and likely to go out of print--that I don't want to sully it with unsightly marks. So far I have lacked the courage even to experiment on pages of back matter, but we shall see what the near future holds.

[BaronWulfraed]

I'd probably stuff those books with Post-It flags (especially the double-wide if one can find them).

 

Unfortunately, they don't take liquid ink very well (Hmm, maybe the right ink -- just tried one: Parker Quink Black looks to have dried to an outlined grey; Levenger Regal doesn't seem to have faded... BUT running my finger over the flag resulted in the Levenger smearing)